In a cohort study reported in JAMA Surgery, Hart et al found that treatment with either neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy was not associated with an increased risk of complications or poorer patient-reported outcomes in women undergoing mastectomy for breast cancer with immediate breast...
In a Danish population-based study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Øvlisen et al found that parenthood rates in younger Hodgkin lymphoma survivors who did not experience early relapse were similar to those in the general population, but that use of assisted reproductive techniques...
A team of investigators in Japan used a personalized assay for circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) levels in plasma to monitor molecular residual disease following surgery in patients with resectable colorectal cancer. Their subgroup analysis found statistically significant associations between ctDNA...
For patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, molecular imaging may improve staging and clinical management of the disease, according to research published by Röhrich et al in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. In a retrospective study of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas, the...
New research published in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network assessed the quality of cancer care delivered through extended sites coordinated by some of the country’s largest cancer centers. The study was developed to implement strategies for disseminating discoveries and...
In a Chinese phase II/III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Qin et al found that donafenib, a multikinase inhibitor and deuterated sorafenib derivative, improved overall survival vs sorafenib in the first-line treatment of unresectable or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma. As...
In a Chinese study (CCLG-APL2016) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Zheng et al found that the combination of arsenic with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) was associated with good survival outcomes in pediatric patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia. Study Details The multicenter...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Awad et al identified potential mechanisms of acquired resistance to the KRAS G12C inhibitor adagrasib in patients receiving the agent for treatment of KRAS G12C–mutant cancers. As noted by the investigators, clinical trials of the KRAS...
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Human Reproduction Programme (HRP)—the main instrument within the United Nations system for research in human reproduction—have launched a new guideline to help countries make faster progress, more equitably, in the screening and treatment of cervical...
Research published by Pratt et al in Annals of Surgical Oncology showed an increase in survival rates when treatment options—surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation—are completed within 38 weeks from the time of diagnosis for patients with breast cancer. Optimal Treatment Duration The observational...
Among 506 hospitalized patients with cancer at risk of malnutrition, individualized nutritional support reduced the risk of mortality compared to consumption of standard hospital food. The findings from a preplanned secondary analysis of the prospective, randomized, multicenter EFFORT trial,...
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Osama E. Rahma, MD, and colleagues, initial results of the phase II NRG-GI002 trial showed no improvement in mean neoadjuvant rectal score with the addition of pembrolizumab to chemoradiotherapy in total neoadjuvant therapy for patients with locally advanced rectal...
In a first-in-human phase I trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Fares et al found that neural stem cell delivery of an oncolytic adenovirus (NSC-CRAd-S-pk7) was safe and feasible in patients with newly diagnosed malignant glioma, with immunologic and histopathologic findings supporting continued ...
In a retrospective analysis reported by researchers from the International Esodata Study Group (IESG) in JAMA Surgery, D’Journo et al developed a model for predicting risk of 90-day mortality following esophagectomy for patients with esophageal or gastroesophageal junction cancer. As stated by the...
On July 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an expanded label for pembrolizumab, an anti–PD-1 agent, as monotherapy for patients with locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma that is not curable by surgery or radiation. This approval is based on data from the second...
Mutations in a gene related to HER2, a gene frequently implicated in breast cancers and a variety of other malignancies, can amplify activity that spurs tumor growth, according to a new study. The findings, published by Hanker et al in Cancer Cell, could explain why many patients with HER2...
A new study has found evidence of the adverse effects the COVID-19 pandemic had on cancer detection and surgical treatments. The study, published by Robin Yabroff, PhD, MBA, and colleagues in JNCI: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found a 10.2% decline in real-time electronic pathology ...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Braga et al identified metastatic disease, choriocarcinoma histology, and higher pretreatment human chorionic gonadotropin concentration as independent predictors of resistance to single-agent chemotherapy in women with low-risk...
In a prospective analysis from the phase III Lymphoma Study Association AHL2011 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Demeestere et al found that patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma receiving a positron-emission tomography (PET)-adapted regimen had a reduced risk of gonadal...
In a pilot study reported by Myers et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, a humanized CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product developed by the investigators (huCART19) was found to produce durable remissions and prolonged CAR T-cell persistence in CAR-naive and CAR-exposed...
Answers to questions about first-line treatment of metastatic melanoma are “going to be shifting,” Jason J. Luke, MD, told The ASCO Post, with the change coming on the heels of the phase III RELATIVITY-047 trial reported at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 That abstract reported that using two...
Despite new and effective treatments for melanoma with checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapies, patients with metastatic melanoma who progress on frontline treatment generally do very poorly. “We really need to make sure we give these patients access to drugs that we know have some efficacy,”...
In a single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Hsiehchen et al found that replacement of in-person with telehealth visits among patients with cancer initiating systemic therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic was not associated with poorer efficiency in components of oncology care or ...
In an analysis from the European Neuroblastoma Study Group (SIOPEN) HR-NBL1 high-risk neuroblastoma trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bellini et al found that ALK amplification and clonal mutation were associated with poorer outcomes in pediatric patients with high-risk...
In a validation study reported in Annals of Oncology, Klein et al found that a targeted methylation-based multicancer early detection (MCED) assay using cell-free DNA (cfDNA) sequencing had high specificity for cancer signal detection and high accuracy in predicting cancer signal origin across a...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Alison J. Moskowitz, MD, and colleagues found that second-line therapy with pembrolizumab plus gemcitabine, vinorelbine, and liposomal doxorubicin (GVD) in relapsed or refractory classic Hodgkin lymphoma produced responses in all...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued regulatory decisions related to treatments for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), acute leukemia, and mantle cell lymphoma. Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Adagrasib in Advanced NSCLC With KRAS G12C Mutation On June 24, 2021, the...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Garaventa et al, the phase III International Society of Pediatric Oncology European Neuroblastoma Group (SIOPEN) HR-NBL1.5 trial showed no significant differences in metastatic complete response rate or event-free survival with the Memorial Sloan...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Desai et al found that the addition of the myeloid progenitor cell product romyelocel-L to granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) reduced the incidence of infection and antimicrobial use vs G-CSF alone during induction...
Although breast cancer continues to be the most common cancer diagnosed in women in the United States, and remains the second-leading cause of cancer death, over the past several decades, the disease has affected Black and White women differently. According to the findings of a large retrospective...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Beyer et al found that redlining (mortgage lending bias on the basis of property location) was associated with overall survival among older U.S. women with breast cancer, with an increasing redlining index (higher likelihood of mortgage loan...
On June 30, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi (recombinant)-rywn (Rylaze) as a component of a multiagent chemotherapeutic regimen for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric...
The invited discussant of the Alliance A21501 findings, Rebecca A. Snyder, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Surgical Oncology at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, described the overall survival associated with modified FOLFIRINOX (fluorouracil [5-FU], leucovorin, ...
In the treatment of borderline resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the Alliance A021501 trial established neoadjuvant treatment with modified FOLFIRINOX (fluorouracil [5-FU], leucovorin, irinotecan, oxaliplatin) as a new benchmark. However, it failed to show the benefit of adding...
With several pivotal trials providing evidence for the escalation and de-escalation of anti-HER2 therapy in certain early breast cancer scenarios, personalized treatment is possible. How can clinicians optimize treatment by applying the studies’ findings? Debu Tripathy, MD, Professor and Chair of...
The link between obesity and the risk of endometrial cancer has been well documented. A recent study, however, showed that an even lower body mass index (BMI) than previously thought may be associated with an increased risk in Asian women with postmenopausal bleeding. The findings by Liu et al were ...
The total number of cancer screening tests received by women through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (Early Detection Program) declined by 87% for breast cancer and 84% for cervical cancer during April 2020 as...
In the German phase III SUCCESS A trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Friedl et al found no differences in disease-free or overall survival with 5 vs 2 years of zoledronate treatment following adjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer. Study Details In the multicenter, open-label, 2 × 2 factorial...
Despite recommendations from ASCO and other national organizations that cancer survivors, as well as patients on active treatment, receive the COVID-19 vaccine if they have no contraindications, a survey of adolescent and young adult cancer survivors finds many have vaccine hesitancy. According to...
In a Chinese phase II/III trial (ORIENT-32) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ren et al found that the combination of the PD-1 inhibitor sintilimab and the bevacizumab biosimilar IBI305 prolonged progression-free and overall survival vs sorafenib in previously untreated unresectable or metastatic...
About 80% of breast cancer cases are hormone receptor–positive, according to the American Cancer Society. Patients with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer generally are treated using therapy that inhibits both estrogen levels and cell-cycle activity, but about 90% of patients with metastatic...
In recent years, cancer immunotherapy has been effective in treating patients with immunogenic—or “hot”—tumors with increased levels of inflammation and the presence of immune cells in and around the tumors. Prostate cancer, however, is considered a “cold” tumor, with few immune cells recognizing...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Zsofia K. Stadler, MD, and colleagues found that germline mutation testing revealed therapeutically actionable variants in 8% of patients with recurrent or metastatic cancers, with 40% of them receiving directed treatment. As stated by the...
Because of their well-established efficacy, inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) are the standard of care in the treatment of hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. The question now is this: after disease progresses on a CDK4/6 inhibitor and endocrine...
In a post hoc analysis from the phase III TAILORx trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Yanez et al identified factors that may be associated with an increased and decreased likelihood of early discontinuation of adjuvant endocrine therapy for breast cancer. Study Details The TAILORx trial, conducted...
In an interim analysis of a Chinese phase III trial (CAPTAIN-1st) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Yang et al found that the addition of camrelizumab to gemcitabine and cisplatin significantly prolonged progression-free survival in the first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal ...
Patients with primary lung cancer detected using low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening may be at reduced risk for developing brain metastases after diagnosis, according to a study published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. The researchers, led by Summer Han, PhD, of Stanford University...
In a Swedish phase II trial (PREDIX HER2) reported in JAMA Oncology, Hatschek et al found no difference in pathologic complete response rate with neoadjuvant trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) vs a standard regimen of trastuzumab, pertuzumab, and docetaxel (DTP) in patients with HER2-positive breast...
Women with dense breasts are increasingly being screened with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which is clearly the best way to detect small cancers in this population, according to Elizabeth Morris, MD, FACR, FSBI, FISMRM, Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiology at the University of...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Schmitt-Hoffner et al found that FOXR2 expression is associated with poorer survival in neuroblastoma, identifying a subgroup of patients in addition to those with MYCN-amplified tumors who are at risk of unfavorable outcomes. They found that ...